Little Shop of Horrors (2003 New Broadway Revival)
The 2003 New Broadway Revival was Little Shop of Horrors ''first appearance on Broadway. It qualified as a revival due to the massive off-Broadway and movie success - though there were many bumps in the road along the way. After a tryout in Florida for the heavily-publicized Broadway revival, the director and all of the cast members except Hunter Foster (Seymour) were dropped - and then following 10 months of performances on Broadway, Foster and two of his new costars were replaced. The show ran for 40 previews and 372 performances before closing at the Virginia Theatre on August 22, 2004. The national touring company zigzagged across the United States from August 2004 to November 2005, playing an additional 416 performances. Tryout In 2003, a tryout was held in Coral Gables, Florida for the Broadway revival with Lee Wilkof, the man who originated the role of Seymour Off-Broadway, stepping into the role of Mr. Mushnik, with Hunter Foster playing Seymour and Alice Ripley as Audrey. The production was poorly received and the Broadway run was initially canceled,TheaterMania - Little Shop of Horrors Cancels Broadway EngagementNY Times - Planned Broadway Run Of 'Little Shop' Canceled but it got a last minute reprieve with only Foster retaining his job. ''The Untouchables star and Unsolved Mysteries host Robert Stack provided the show's opening narration,Variety - May 19, 2003 in what was to be his final piece of work before his deathFlorida Engagement of Little Shop of Horrors Opens May 16 on May 14, 2003 - two days before previews had finished and the show officially opened. Originally the Broadway soundtrack was to have been recorded with Alice Ripley and Lee Wilkof on June 23rd 2003, but when plans for the show were initially scrapped, so was the recording session. Cast *Hunter Foster as Seymour Krelborn *Alice Ripley as Audrey *Lee Wilkof as Mr. Mushnik *Reg Rogers as Orin Scrivello, D.D.S. *Billy Porter as Audrey II *Dioni Michelle Collins Crystal *Haneefah Wood as Ronnette *Moeisha McGill as Chiffon Broadway Cast * Hunter Foster as Seymour Krelborn * Kerry Butler as Audrey * Rob Bartlett as Mr. Mushnik * Douglas Sills as Orin Scrivello, D.D.S. * Michael Leon Wooley as Audrey II * Trisha Jeffery as Crystal * Carla J. Hargrove as Ronnette * Dequina Moore as Chiffon Revisal In June 2004, there was a casting shakeup. Hunter Foster exited the show on June 6, leaving understudy Jonathan Rayson to fill in as Seymour for several weeks. Douglas Sills (Orin) left the show on the 13th, leaving his understudy, Darren Ritchie, with the part. On June 22, 'N Sync's Joey Fatone took over the role of Seymour and Jessica-Snow Wilson replaced Kerry Butler as Audrey.'N Sync's Joey Fatone Makes Early Appearance in Little Shop of Horrors Ritchie was committed to Dracula: The Musical," ''so Rayson played the role of Orin for a week,Playbill - Jonathan Rayson credits then he returned to being an understudy when Robert Evan took over the part.Robert Evan is Little Shop's New Dentist The rest of the cast remained unchanged. Replacement Cast *Joey Fatone as Seymour Krelborn *Jessica-Snow Wilson as Audrey *Robert Evan as Orin Scrivello, D.D.S. Opening Night Playbill CoverPlaybill.jpg Little-Shop-of-Horrors-Oct-02-03-1.jpg Little-Shop-of-Horrors-Oct-02-03-3.jpg Little-Shop-of-Horrors-Oct-02-03-4.jpg Little-Shop-of-Horrors-Oct-02-03-4.jpg Little-Shop-of-Horrors-Oct-02-03-5.jpg Little-Shop-of-Horrors-Oct-02-03-6.jpg Little-Shop-of-Horrors-Oct-02-03-7.jpg Little-Shop-of-Horrors-Oct-02-03-8.jpg Little-Shop-of-Horrors-Oct-02-03-9.jpg Little-Shop-of-Horrors-Oct-02-03-10.jpg Little-Shop-of-Horrors-Oct-02-03-12.jpg Little-Shop-of-Horrors-Oct-02-03-11.jpg Little-Shop-of-Horrors-Oct-02-03-13.jpg Little-Shop-of-Horrors-Oct-02-03-14.jpg Little-Shop-of-Horrors-Oct-02-03-2.jpg Images Little Shop of Horrors 2003 - Mark Thomas original poster art.jpg|Original Broadway Poster art (with Alice Ripley) Hunter Foster and Lee Wilkof in Little Shop of Horrors.jpg|Hunter Foster & Lee Wilkof - Florida Tryout Little Shop of Horrors 2003 Broadway Revival Flyer.jpg|Broadway Flyer Finale Audrey II Broadway.jpg|Audrey II - Broadway 2003 Lsoh2003 (2).jpg|Hunter Foster - Broadway 2003 images.jpg|Hunter Foster & Kerry Butler - Broadway little-shop-of-horrors-2.jpg|Hunter Foster & Kerry Butler - Broadway Tumblr n3ahatWL1K1sehtq7o1 540.jpg|Full shot of Hunter Foster and Kerry Butler Little Shop of Horrors - Joey Fatone as Seymour with Audrey II.jpg|Joey Fatone - Broadway 2004 National Touring Company For the national touring company, director Jerry Zaks and a few people behind-the-scenes stayed on, but the entire cast was changed. Anthony Rapp (Rent) took over the role of Seymour, and Tari Kelly portrayed Audrey. Beginning in Dallas, the show crisscrossed the country for over a year, ending in Cleveland with a total of 416 performances. Cast *Anthony Rapp as Seymour Krelborn *Tari Kelly as Audrey *Lenny Wolpe as Mr. Mushnik *James Moye as Orin Scrivello, D.D.S. *Michael James Leslie as Audrey II *Amina S. Robinson as Crystal *Latonya Holmes as Ronnette *Yasmeen Sulieman as Chiffon Tour Schedule Playbill (Dallas, Texas) Little Shop of Horrors 2004 Touring Company - Dallas Texas 01.jpg Little Shop of Horrors 2004 Touring Company - Dallas Texas 02.jpg Little Shop of Horrors 2004 Touring Company - Dallas Texas 03.jpg Little Shop of Horrors 2004 Touring Company - Dallas Texas 04.jpg Little Shop of Horrors 2004 Touring Company - Dallas Texas 05.jpg Little Shop of Horrors 2004 Touring Company - Dallas Texas 06.jpg Little Shop of Horrors 2004 Touring Company - Dallas Texas 07.jpg Little Shop of Horrors 2004 Touring Company - Dallas Texas 08.jpg Little Shop of Horrors 2004 Touring Company - Dallas Texas 09.jpg Little Shop of Horrors 2004 Touring Company - Dallas Texas 10.jpg Images Little Shop of Horrors 2004 Touring Company with Anthony Rapp & Tari Kelly.jpg|Anthony Rapp & Tari Kelly in the Touring Company Little Shop of Horrors - Tari Kelly and Anthony Rapp.jpg|Tari Kelly & Anthony Rapp Little Shop of Horrors - 2004 Touring Company James Moye as Orin Scrivello DDS.jpg|Touring Company - James Moye Tumblr o94jafX1SJ1sehtq7o3 1280.jpg|Similar shot of Anthony and Tari, sans the logo Soundtrack After plans for the cast recording were halted in June, Hunter Foster and the new Broadway cast members found themselves in the studio on September 15, 2003,Broadway's Little Shop Goes on the Record under the watchful eye of composer and executive producer Alan Menken. The soundtrack was rushed for an October 21 release,All Music - Little Shop of Horrors (The New Broadway Cast Recording and included material cut from the original Off-Broadway album, such as the Entr'acte for [[Call Back in the Morning|''Call Back in the Morning]] and the WSKID portion of ''Ya Never Know''. Tacked on as bonuses were several of Howard Ashman and Menken's unused demos for the original production, including ''The Worse He Treats Me'', ''I Found a Hobby'', ''A Little Dental Music'', and ''We'll Have Tomorrow'', as well as ''Bad'', which was composed for the film but ultimately replaced by ''Mean Green Mother from Outer Space''. References Category:Productions Category:Little Shop Of Horrors